Garment-fastener



I. C. FIFE.

GARMENT FASTENER. APPLICATION FILED APR. 21, 1920.

,360,886, Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IKLEY G. FIFE, OF TOLEDO, OHIO.

GARMENT-FASTENER.

T 0 all whom it may concern: Beit known that I, IKLnY C. FIFE, a citizenof the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas andState of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inGarment Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to garment fasteners and more particularly to agarment fastener adapted to be utilized as a substitute for buttons andbuttonholes on the meeting edges of a garment. 1

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the structure is designedto be mounted on the overlapped portions of agarment such as a coat orthe like whereby the two overlapped portions may be held together.

The invention contemplates the provision of a structure which willpermit the user to quickly release the complementary parts of thefastener when it is desired to disconnect the garment and which will bearranged so as to permit the fastener to be readily connected wherebythe garment will be firmly held in a manner that will avoid thenecessity of providing buttonholes for buttons.

Other objects of the invention will appear upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein Figure1 is a side elevation of a portion of a garment showing my inventionapplied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a detail section through one of the members included in thefastener structure.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line d-4 of Fig. 1 andshowing the fastener disconnected.

Fig. 5 is a portion of the housing for the fastener.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the clip member of the fastener.

Referring to the 'drawings by numerals, the overlapped portions A and Bof the garment are designed to include openings to receive thecomplementary fastener members. Mounted in the opening in the portion Ais a reinforcing member 1 which consists of a metallic ring 2 havinglateral flanges 3 and l embracing the material thus reinforcingSpecification of Letters Patent. Patented N 30, 1920,

1920. Serial No. 375,497.

the marginal edges of the opening and providing a complementary memberfor the fastener. The opening in the section B is provided with asimilar metallic ring member 5 having overlapping flanges 6 and 7 which'Two parallel legs 10 having fingers 11 at their ends engage the ringmember 5 and the flange 7 thereof the legs extending throughthe sleeve 8and having outwardly projecting holding members 12 which extend over themarginal edges of thesleeve 8 and thus retain it in position on theflange 6 of the ringmember, The two holding members 12 are connected bythe cross member 13 which is fixed by a fastening element 14; to thecenter of the housing 15. The latter shown in Fig. 5, is in the form ofa cylindrical cap having its open end fitted down over the sleeve 8 andis provided with four slots or openings 16, two of which are adapted topermit the holding members 12 to extend out beyond the circular wall ofthe housing. Disposed at right angles with respect to the retainingmember 9 is a clip member shown in detail in Fig. 6 and indicatedgenerally at 17. This clip member has the two V- shaped arms 18 whichare preferably resilient and which terminate in clip fingers 19 adaptedto removably engage the flange 3 of the ring member 2 as shown in Fig.3. These resilient members 18 extend upwardly and terminate in operatingarms 20 which project through the other two slots 16 in the housing. Thecross member 21 connects the two arms 20 and is fixed through the mediumof the opening 22 to the fastening member 14 whereby it is firmly heldin the housing but may be readily flexed by pressing on the twooperating arms 20 whereby the two clip legs 18 may be moved toward eachother thus disengaging the members 19 from the ring 2 thereby permitting separation of the two ring members 5 and 2 when the garment isopened.

To close and fasten the garment, an in- Ward pressure is applied to eachof the members 20 and the legs 18 of the clip member are then movedtowardveach other against their tendency to spring away from each other,thus moving the two clip fingers 19 close together whereby they may beinserted through the opening in the ring 2. Then by releasing thepressure the clip members will. by virtue of their own resiliency springoutwardly away from each other whereby the fingers 19 will engage thering member 2 and the two sections of the garment will be held againstaccidental opening. Obvi ously the buttons may be made of any de siredsize and an ornamental appearance may be given to the structure bysuitable changes in the general design of the housing. In this respect Idesire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the exactdetails of construction described but prefer to make minor changes inthe details of construction so long as the changes are within the scopeof the claims hereunto appended.

What I claim is 1. A garment fastener comprising a pair of ring members,each fastened to one section of a garment, a housing mounted on one ofthe ring members and including a sleeve having one edge disposed on thering member and a retaining member engaged with the ring member andequipped with hold ing members to engage the marginal edge of the saidsleeve member, and a spring clip member mounted in the housing andhaving clip fingers adapted to releasably engage the other ring member.

2. A garment fastener comprising a pair of complementary ring members, ahousing mounted on one of. thering members, and provided with aretaining member engaged with one of the ring members and also engagedwith the housing to maintain the latter on the said ring member, ahousing cap provided with slots and embracing the said fixed portion ofthe housing, and a clip member provided with clip fingersengageable'with the other ring member and having operating fingersextending through the slots in the said housing cap.

3. A. garment fastener comprising complementary ring members, eachfastened to one section of a garment, a housing mounted on one of thering members and provided with a detachable retaining member, saidhousing having a series of slots, and a resilient clip member mountedwithin the housing with clip fingers engaging the other ring member andhaving operating fingers extending through the slots of the housing.

In testimony whereof, I have aflixed my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

IKLEY O. FIFE.

Witnesses:

SIDNEY L. STINE, DEOLAN ALLEN.

LU'A

